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Amber waves of grain are beautiful, until you can't sell them. Dave Hedlin's barley fields along Chilberg Road – labeled "Spring Malting Barley" on crop signs – will be ripe in about a week, along with several other fields tucked in around La Conner. Unfortunately, Hedlin's barley buyer, Skagit Valley Malting, closed abruptly on Friday, June 16. Hedlin grows about 100 acres of conventional barley and 100 acres of organic a year for Skagit Valley Malting, which turned locally grown barleys int...
Lori Buher retired in June after 27 years with La Conner Schools and even longer as a La Conner School parent. Her long career can be divided into three chapters. In Chapter 1, she joined the La Conner Co-op Preschool when Eric and Anne enrolled in 1987, serving until 1992. By 1989, she was also on the board of the La Conner Elementary PTA. Soon she was helping lead the school’s Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. “It was a lot of fun, and I had great support from other parents, but I was def...
After 20 years, Juli Olson is finally graduating from middle school. The La Conner middle and high school administrative assistant retires at the end of June after working under six principals and through a school remodel and a pandemic. Besides keeping attendance and other critical records, she has helped plan the 8th grade promotion and filled in as school nurse, lunch lady and field trip chaperone. Driving the school bus is the only job she hasn’t tackled. Not all of her records have been official. During the years when middle school c...
Two La Conner institutions have new owners – and one of them a new name. Purchasing the Reclamation Candle Company and Coffee Bar from Barney and Tammy Richard was a no-brainer for Greg Whiting and Jenelle Whitton. "We loved La Conner and we loved coffee and we wanted to do something together," said Whitton. Specifically, they loved La Colombe coffee, which Reclamation served. They continue to sell the ethically sourced coffee at the 106 South First Street store. The shop is now called Ravens Cu...
Very few people give up a desk job to work in the tulip fields – but Jeannette DeGoede did. “I was sporting goods managers at Ernst Hardware in Mount Vernon,” she remembers. “Leaving a nice warm store and coming out to a cold field with no one to chat with was a drastic change, but I grew into really loving it.” In her new book, “Tulip Town Remembered,” Jeannette tells the story behind the beloved institution that she and her late husband Tom DeGoede created. She spent eight months writing, encouraged by fellow writers in Claire Swedberg’s cr...
Ready or not, here comes the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The Mount Vernon Kiwanis are firing up the grill for their annual salmon barbecue, which starts this Saturday, April 1. The four local flower venues are standing by. The Roozengaarde staff are ready to guide visitors to the display garden, five tulip fields (featuring a million bulbs!) and parking. Tulip Town's Opening Weekend is all about dogs. The Seattle Barkery will offer a dog treat bar, photographer John Melicor will take portraits...
It's March 15, and nary a daffodil can be seen, but Brent Roozen isn't worried. Field picking ramped up last weekend, said the Washington Bulb Company CEO, and daffodils are shipping to customers at tulips.com as well as grocery stores across the country. "Yellow is right around the corner, and when daffodils bloom late, the color can come on really quickly." As for tulips, it is too early to tell. Late daffodils can mean no tulips until mid-April "but tulips can catch up quickly if they get a...
What laws govern billboards in Skagit County? Exactly what kind of billboard is being proposed by the 76 gas station owners east of the Conway exit? The answers to those questions are one reason the county revised its “Notice of Development Application” for a proposed billboard east of Conway and extended the comment period to Feb. 24. Residents of La Conner will not be surprised that one person probing these questions is Linda Talman. “There was so much misinformation about the proposed sign,” she told the Weekly News. “A lot of it was contr...
Morning coffee, afternoon tea and better St. Patrick's Day potatoes are now on tap in greater La Conner. Cruser Coffee, 313 Morris Street, is a new source for your morning joe. Nicole Cruse owns and operates a stand with the same name on Memorial Highway near the Mexico Café. Cruse likes the pace of her second location. "In the stand you only get two-minute interactions with people," she said. "They want quick, quick, quick get me out the door." Here, she is enjoying getting to know her...
January and February may be quiet months for La Conner, but town businesses are in the midst of big changes. Perhaps the most prominent is the recently opened Firehall Kitchen and Taphouse at 402 Morris Street. Owned by Pam Alvord of La Conner Brewery, Firehall is located in – natch – the former home of the La Conner Fire Department. Old-time LCFD photos on the walls honor the building's history. "We are growing organically as the staff settle into a new kitchen and a new menu," says man...
In the first three weeks of January, 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow fell on California. I was there for an awful lot of them. Usually, when I make my holiday sojourn to Sacramento, I enjoy slightly warmer temperatures and a whole lot more sun than I get in Skagit County in the winter. Not this year. Rain began just a few days after I pulled up to my mom's house on Dec. 19. At first, it was refreshing and from what I saw on my drive south, badly needed. But one storm turned into one atmosph...
When Taylor Brink visited La Conner High School last Thursday, he was fully armed – and armored. The butcher/meat cutter for Northwest Local Meats, the retail butcher shop for the Island Grown Farmers Cooperative, used all the tools of his trade to break down two quarters of a steer in teacher Peter Voorhees' cooking classes. Before employing his knives and saws, Brink put on a chain mail apron to prevent accidental stabs and a Kevlar arm band and glove to ward off cuts. Then he tackled the s...
After struggling through two pandemic years, the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon closed out 2022 in good shape. Audiences are returning. There is money in the bank. Membership, which dipped to 482 during the pandemic, is on the rise. Programming and ticket sales look good for 2023. Pull and Be Damned resident Roger Gietzen is a big factor in the Lincoln's good fortunes. A Lincoln staff member staff since 1999 and executive director since 2015, he has helped lead the theatre, its staff and volunt...
Larry McCormick has been seeing a lot of dead birds. "You drive around Best, Calhoun, Bradshaw, you see them," said the La Conner resident, an avid hunter. "At one farmer's field with goose decoys out, I picked up 14 dead geese. A guy I know counted 81 dead ducks in a ditch on Best Road. It's bad." In a Dec. 8 release, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that it has retrieved more than 700 deceased birds of several species – primarily juvenile snow geese – from the Ska...
Art, appetizers and wine and lots of buzz about the quality of the show – in short, the Art's Alive opening gala Friday was "a wonderful night," observed La Conner Arts Foundation board member Sheila Johnson. Attendees savored food and beverages capably served by a crew of volunteers that included Mary Davis, Joyce Welch and Gretchen Dykers. They also examined artwork by invitational and open show artists throughout Maple Hall. La Conner resident Kathy Wyman was looking for something that w...
This year, raising a glass to the artists featured in the annual Art's Alive! festival will be a cinch. Instead of sipping your wine or beer outdoors in a tent – a measure taken in 2021 to keep the unseen but ever-present COVID-19 virus from crashing the party – you can offer your toast face to face with the artists during the Friday night opening gala Nov. 11. Add in some scrumptious appetizers and the 38th Art's Alive! weekend will start with "a more traditional gathering of townspeople to...
A long dry season has been a mixed blessing for local farmers. Back in June, when the Skagit Valley was so cold and drenched some fields could not even be planted, Dean Swanson thought we would never hit 80 degrees. “Farmers asked for a warm dry fall to recover from the late start,” he said, “but we forgot to ask for a couple of timely rains.” Fortunately, copious spring rains gave plants a good start. A deep snowpack kept river levels high all summer, making more water available for irrigating corn, pasture and potatoes. Heat helped. While Swa...
Some of the 37 guest poets and artists participating in this year’s Skagit River Poetry Festival are crossing oceans to reach La Conner. Others just have to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Canadian poet Karen Solie, flying in from St. Andrews, Scotland, is coming the farthest. Katherine Paul of the band Black Belt Eagle Scout can just stroll down the street. Her dad Kevin Paul can commute from Swinomish Village. Father and daughter will open the festival’s Thursday, October 6 program, “Welcome to Indian Country: A Reading to Celebrate our First Natio...
A million details make the Skagit River Poetry Festival happen – and they are all coming together. Before the Festival takes place in La Conner Oct. 6-9, there are 34 poets to match to housing, pick up at the airport shuttle and feed. There are half a dozen school buses to arrange so Skagit and Whatcom County high school students can attend for free on Friday, October 7. Not to mention 220 chairs to distribute to Festival venues for a four-day whirlwind of setting up, taking down, setting up a...
When Bill Hayton and Laurence McCulloch moved to Pleasant Ridge, they wanted to explore hiking trails in the region. Joan Melcher made that happen. Melcher, 85, is the point person of the Skagit Audubon hiking group. For almost 30 years, she has planned 52 hikes a year and accompanied hikers of all skill levels to the trailhead and beyond. Whether it's a walk around Mt. Erie or a 2,000-foot climb to Maple Pass, Melcher makes sure everyone returns safe and sound. Almost every week, Melcher can...
“When you are poeting, you are making the world, creating the universe out of nothing,” Washington State Poet Laureate Rena Priest said last Saturday at the Lincoln Theatre. That’s because the word poet comes from the Greek word poesis or “maker,” she explained. During the 90-minute reading and workshop, Priest introduced herself and her work to an audience of about 50. Several La Conner-area residents were among those listening as she shared stories from her own life, wisdom from other poets and her own work. Dr. Seuss’s “Red Fish Blue Fish” w...
Books clubs and bridge groups come and go, but the Harmony Birthday Club has been around for about 130 years. Honored with a Pioneer Spirit award at the Aug. 4 Pioneer Picnic, the club has been building connections and community since the 1890s. While the Harmony district lies east of La Conner, a number of its residents support La Conner schools and the library with their property taxes. You're in Harmony when you drive east on Calhoun Road from Best and Chilberg roads. While the heart of...
After a vigorous week at the Skagit County fair, two leaders with La Conner roots are taking it easy. As 4H dairy supervisor for the whole fair, Chelsy Mesman of Mesman Farms helped 18 young people between the ages of nine and 18 prepare and show their cows. "It's a lot of responsibility and a lot of kids," she said. Valley Green Acres 4H Horse Club supervisor Lauren Hedlin of Hedlin Family Farms worked with 10 young riders who performed in the horse arena. All county 4H clubs arrived two days...
On July 18, the Skagit County commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on offsite compensatory mitigation of salmon habitat. “Offsite compensatory mitigation” means habitat restoration projects that mitigate for environmental impacts that are a considerable distance away. The moratorium expresses the commissioners’ concern that Seattle City Light (SCL) may go on a spending spree purchasing land in the lower estuary of the Skagit River. SCL is halfway through the five-year process of renewing its license for its three hydroelectric dams...
Could there be a more beautiful spot for poets and poetry than the sylvan glade of Pioneer Park? Georgia Johnson doesn’t think so. “For 37 years I’ve driven across the bridge and past the park thinking, ‘we’ve got to get poetry happening here,’” she told listeners from the bandstand at the free “Make Me Wanna Holler” celebration sponsored by the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. “And now it’s happening!” About 100 people of all ages enjoyed live music, live poetry and lunch in the park on Su...
